Selfie

[Black Pearl]

Having recently watched the excellent Sky Arts documentary - Finding Vivian Maier - I've started looking for reflections of myself while out and about shooting.

Took this yesterday while walking about in York. I used MF as the camera wanted to focus on the gravel not my reflection combined with a large aperture to remove some of the reality. Its slightly offset of purpose to stop it being to symmetrical.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[ionian]

I think it works really well Robin. There is still a little bit of detail in your silhouette - I'd burn these areas so you appear as an outline if it were mine.

[Sam W]

Hi Robin - I know you slightly offset it to keep it from being symmetrical. The first thing that caught my eye was the image had a bit too much negative space on the LHS for my liking...it looked to me that it needed just a touch cropped off the LHS. I've been wondering about this in my own photos lately as some say images should not in general be centered in a photo...but I do it anyway. My artistic skills probably need maturation. I think is an interesting unusual photo. Great shot.

[Donald]

I think the composition is perfect and the fact that it is deliberate, rather than something that 'just happened', is the most importnat bit.

There is still a little bit of detail in your silhouette - I'd burn these areas so you appear as an outline if it were mine.

My view differs from Simon in that I think the holding on to some detail and not going to a complete silhouette, integrates the subject and the surroundings beautifully. I did a similar thing here.

[Black Pearl]

Thanks for the replies and input, always interesting to see how others view an image and what they take from it.

In general I love very strongly centred images - I am actually bang in the middle - but I also like to unsettle an image from time to time to give it life hence the arm cropped at the elbow. I wanted some detail to help you see what I was/am doing hence the lack of total solidity but I completely get why it would also work.

Donald - thats a crackin shot you've linked to with loads of interest from such a simple composition.

[FootLoose]

Good one, Robin. I agree with Donald about not going to full silhouette.